Birthday Blues
by CathyD
Summary: It’s Kim’s 30th birthday, and she’s not exactly thrilled about it. One-Shot


Birthday Blues  
by Falconcranelove

Rating: T

Summary: It's Kim's birthday, and she's not exactly thrilled about it. Just a little one-shot. There was really no particular timeline in my head when I wrote it, this is just something that popped into my head.

Disclaimer: Not mine, or we'd still be seeing our fave Mighty Morphin Rangers on the screen.

Dedication: To Terra. This is part two of your Birthday Prezzie. Love you hun! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! This was written for Terra's birthday.

- - - - -

Kim sighed as she pulled into the Youth Center's parking lot. She wasn't having a good day, and just wanted to go home, but Trini had called and asked her to meet her at the Center to eat after she got off work. She had reluctantly agreed, and so here she was.

Her day had started off as well as it could have, considering she wanted to skip it entirely. She was feeling depressed, for it was her 30th birthday. She was having trouble dealing with it, though she couldn't say exactly why. She was suddenly feeling old, and she didn't like it. She was the fifth of the six friends to hit 30, so she knew it wasn't that big a deal, but she couldn't help how she was feeling either, she just was.

Then her day at work had gone downhill quickly. She had had some problems with the computer while she was doing their monthly bills, and had been on hold with Tech Support for two hours, trying to get it fixed. They had finally figured it out, and then by the time she got the bills paid, she was late for a meeting… it just hadn't been a good day.

To make matters worse, everyone had plans and couldn't be here to celebrate. Billy had been out of town on business for the past three days, and wasn't going to be back till tomorrow at the earliest. Zach was touring with his dance company, and wasn't due back for another two weeks. Trini was called the night before, and asked to work a late shift at the hospital (hence the meeting for supper). And Jase and her husband were at a martial arts expo, having left this afternoon and not returning till Sunday afternoon. She thought she could have handled the day better had her friends been here to share it with her, it would have been more bearable.

Shutting the engine off she grabbed her bag and opened the door. After locking the doors, she dropped the keys into the bag and walked to the doors. She was confused when she was greeted with the sound of silence upon opening the door. Usually this time of day the center was packed, and you could hear the sound of the local teens working out and practicing. She walked down the corridor, headed to the main room, and got the surprise of her life upon turning the corner. Kim saw her husband and all her friends standing in front of the bar, with grins on their faces; above their heads was a sign which read, 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIMBERLY!'

"SURPRISE!" they all yelled together. They all started laughing at the expression on her face. Kim could only stand there, eyes wide and mouth open in shock, so her friends all headed in her direction to greet her.

Trini was the first to reach her. "Happy Birthday Kim," she said, with a gentle smile as she hugged her.

Zach was next to give her a hug, "Happy Birthday girl. Welcome to the Old Timer's Club." She couldn't help but laugh at Zach's joke; it was one he had started when Jason had turned thirty the year before, Jason being the first of them to do so.

"Thanks Mr. Vice President," she smiled. Jason was the 'President', Zach was 'Vice President' being the second to turn 30, then Tommy was 'Treasurer', and Trini was 'Secretary' having turned 30 just three months ago.

Billy was next up, hugging the petit former Ranger. "Happy Birthday Kimberly."

"Thanks Billy," she said. Stepping back from the hug, she looked at her friends, "I don't get it, I thought you guys were all out of town this weekend. How come you're all here?"

"You think we'd miss your big day?" came from Zach. He shook his head, "Uh-uh, no way. You'd never miss our birthday's, and we'd never miss yours either." He was rewarded with a sweet smile.

Jason slung his arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze, "We lied. Your husband here had the idea to throw you a surprise party, and we went with it. We knew that you'd never believe we weren't giving you a party if we were here in town, so we came up with excuses, or lied about our return dates."

Kim turned to look at her husband in awe, "This was your idea?" At his nod, she flung her arms around his neck, "You're so sweet, I love you. Thank you so much."

He squeezed her to him, "You're welcome. Happy Birthday Beautiful." He kissed her gently on the forehead.

She stepped back and looked around the room, taking in the sight around her. The decorations were mainly pink and green, but there were splashes of yellow, red, black, blue and white as well. She could only smile, knowing which decorations were contributed by her friends.

As she looked at the other people in the room, she noticed all the other former Rangers in attendance. She smiled as she felt tears form, "You guys are great, thank you so much." She spoke loud enough for the others to hear her, "Thank you all for coming! This is a great surprise, I'm so glad you all could share my special day with me." She was met with a round of 'Happy Birthday Kim', which made her smile brighten.

The party lasted late into the night, with everyone having a great time. There was lots of good food, dancing, laughing; it was the best party Kim had ever had, made special by her friends. Ernie had made her one of his special cakes, and it was enough to bring her to tears when he carried it out to her. Since moving back to Angel Grove two years ago, she and Tommy had become close to the Youth Centers' proprietor again.

Around 1 am, she and Tommy arrived home and the exhausted couple headed straight to their bedroom. She sat on the bed and watched as Tommy rummaged through his drawer to find some pajama bottoms. "Thanks Handsome," she said quietly.

Tommy stopped and looked over his shoulder at his wife, "For what?"

"For making my horrible day so special. I had a great time tonight; it made the day worth it."

Tommy turned to face her, concern on his face, "Why was this a horrible day?"

"Oh you know, the whole getting old thing. I was really dreading today, but you made it perfect." She stood when he walked towards her, and lay her head on his chest when he wrapped her in his arms. "I love you Tommy."

"I love you too Beautiful." They stayed there a moment before Tommy pulled back just enough to see her face. "I may be slow, but I don't get why it bothered you though. It was just another birthday, you're only one year older."

Kimberly sighed, not knowing how to explain it. "I don't know, I guess it's just me being silly, but turning 30 just brought on this feeling of panic suddenly. Like, now I have to grow up, I definitely can't be kid anymore."

Tommy waggled his eyebrows at her, "Well, I'm glad you're not a kid anymore."

Kimberly laughed as well, and shook her head. "Dork." They shared a laugh, and then Kim turned serious again. "I've always said that I don't mind getting older, so turning 30 shouldn't have bothered me, but it did. It's silly, really."

"Beautiful, if you're feeling it, it's not silly. You can't help how you feel, that's just part of it." Tommy kissed her forehead again, "But for the record, you're not "old". You're perfect."

"Awww…" Kimberly smiled up at her love, "you always know just what to say. How do you do that?"

"It's called being in love. It comes easy, when it's you Beautiful." He dipped his head down, and the two shared a gentle kiss. It was a kiss full of love, and bit of promise of more things to come. Tommy slowly pulled back with a smile on his face, "I've got one more present for you."

"Oh Tommy, you've already given me so much, I don't need anything else."

"Well, you're getting it anyway," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. Kim gasped at what lay inside when he opened it. "Do you like it?"

"Oh Tommy, it's beautiful," she slowly reached out to take it from the box. She held up the delicate looking heart necklace, and examined the four stones which were inlayed in it. The top most stone was pink, followed by green, white, and then black.

"The pink ones a sapphire, the green's an emerald, then a diamond and onyx." Tommy didn't know what else to say, so he took it from her hands and put it around her neck, fastening it.

"I love it, but isn't it missing something? Perhaps a red stone?" she teased. She was surprised by the serious look on his face when he answered.

"No, it's not missing anything. These colors symbolize us as a couple, not us as individuals. The pink is obvious I think." she nodded her head. "Green is when we first met. White when we officially became a couple and fell in love. And black…" he looked into her eyes, "Black is when I got you back," he whispered.

"Oh Tommy…" she buried her head in his chest and held on while tears leaked from her eyes. "It is perfect. Thank you so much. I love it, and I love you."

"The feeling's more than mutual Beautiful. I wanted to get you something extra special, not just cause you turned 30, but something to mark the fact that we've known each other exactly half our lives now. 15 years is a long time, and I know we weren't together for all of those years, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. We wouldn't be the people we are now, and I think we're pretty spectacular now."

"Me too Handsome." Kim rose up on her tiptoes and gave her husband a kiss, which quickly turned into a heated, passionate embrace. Hands roamed, and tongues dueled. "Let's move this to the bed," she panted between kisses.

"Great idea," he replied. Tommy picked her up and carried her to the bed, gently depositing her on it before following her down. The two didn't get to sleep for another hour, and when they did they were exhausted and fell asleep wrapped in each others arms.

Kim's final thought before sleep claimed her, was '_Maybe 30's not so bad afterall._'

fin


End file.
